blood and ashes ( RAEKAL!!!!)
Aran looked over the papers littering his desk and sighed. It did not seem to matter all the papers and reports. Eldrie dead...so many of his men dead. That the Red's responsible were cold in their graves as well didn't seem to help either. So much death, blood like a river, enough to drown the world.
Aran stood and looked out the window high over the Tower grounds. Men in black were going about their work trying to pretending that life went on with the Dragon Reborn dead. He didn't know what that meant for Tarmon Gaidin. Could it be that Eldrie wasn't the Dragon? The Foretelling had been so plain. He sighed again and clenched his fists tightly. They must go on, they had to fight even if there was no hope.
He turned and walked back to his desk carved from black stone with small white flecks in it. All reports said that this was not over. There was trouble brewing between Andor and Manetheran and he knew that meant the Black Tower would be drawn into it. Then...he knew the ties between Andor and Tar Valon. He could see the path ahead as if it had been foretold. There was sure to be a war between the Towers. It must not come to that, the world needed both Towers whole if it had a chance to survive Tarmon Gaidin. He knew Raekal did not see it that way, even understood why but it must not come to that. He would not hide or shirk from it if it did but he prayed to the light it would not. He tried to push thoughts of Eldrie away, there was too much sadness there. He formed the void and felt all sadness and anger drain from him into the flame. He felt empty, hollow. Light, he thought, I might as well hold onto the void for good now. He thought then of Nia and smiled. The one good thing still in this world, one tiny thread to hold onto in a river of blood and death.
He stood forming a gateway and stepped out into the gardens at the foot of the Tower. There were soldiers everywhere and they all stopped to salute him and he nodded back, proud of his men, his Tower. He needed to find Raekal and talk to him. They had not talked much since..since Eldrie's death.
Finishing off his rounds for the day--the walls were needing their continual upkeeping work done and the gates were beginning to squeal with want of oil and grease--he was walking back towards the Tower with all the intent on knocking off at least half of the papers in his office before heading back to his room for some well-deserved rest. Brenna was out and about, doing some "chores" as she had chosen to call them. While he wasn't overly pleased, neither was he very upset about it. It kept her from bugging him all day, he supposed. He looked up as he reached the Tower, feeling saidin woven all around him. But he had . . . an affinity wasn't precisely correct, no . . . but, he had been around Aran enough that he knew the M'Hael's presence when he felt it. Being perhaps the only man in the Tower more powerful than Raekal himself as well perhaps had something to do with it. He smiled as he saw the M'Hael, though the smile quickly slipped when he saw the look on Aran's face. He had been thinking again . . . that wasn't always good.
Then, just for a brief moment, he could have sworn he saw . . . something dancing around Aran's head. Lights, of a sort, that faded away the moment that he noticed them, like something just out of sight that vanished the moment any attention was paid to it. He frowned, thinking he must have imagined it, and wondered just how long he had been out and about today. Perhaps he could take a nap before getting to work on that stack of papers. Who had ever thought that running a Tower meant so much bloody paperwork??
"M'Hael," he greeted as he came up, with a slight bow. Aran gave a slight start, as if not quite expecting Raekal to be there. Raekal kept his face smooth and calm enough to do an Aes Sedai proud. "What brings you out of your office to the land of the living today?" he asked with a joking smile. Things were . . . not exactly different around the Tower now, but definitely more strained, ever since the . . . incident.
(Raekal Dunshain) -- First Stormleader Asha'man Bonded to Brenna Selanos (Saker Mandell) -- King of Manetheren (Rahien Shan) -- King of Arafel (Kylan Du'Val) -- Dreadlord of Mesaana
Re: blood and ashes ( RAEKAL!!!!)
Aran smiled slightly at his friend. The only one you really have left, a voice said in his head. He pushed the thought down not wanting to dwell on THAT yet again.
" I thought it best to venture out into the world," he said trying to sound light," I find reports to be bad company especially the sorts that cross my desk these days."
He looked around at the flowers a stark contrast to what went on in this Tower of theirs.
" Some of these reports give me quite a bit of alarm. I fear Cairhein may explode into civil war if no one takes the Sun Throne soon. Not to mention all the trouble in the borderlands."
He thought of the trouble even in his old home of Arafel and strangely felt no more sadness towards that then all the others.
" We may need to send a small party to Tarwin's Gap to be sure it is held this year. Our treaty with Yasha says we should. I refuse to accept that she too is dead. I also fear that soon we will be drawn into the war that has apparently exploded between Manetheran and Andor."
Aran shook his head and laughed mirthlessly.
" Then there is of course the White bloody Tower. We are not done with them by any means."
He looked at his First and shrugged.
" I think we need to make some very important decisions very soon."
Re: blood and ashes ( RAEKAL!!!!)
Raekal sighed. "Yasha IS dead. There is no other excuse for it-if she is not, then she is in the custody of some insane Aes Sedai, and as good as. But she should not be the only reason that we hold to an alliance with the Borderlands." He knew that Aran was in a very diffucult situation, that his Tower was on the brink of a hundred wars that all threatened the fabric of reality, the great weaving of the Wheel. The news about Cairhein was new, although not unexpected. The nobles there would have waited only a matter of days after mourning Caladin to begin to put forward new claims to the throne . . . and with Yasha, the rightful Queen of both Saldaea and Cairhein missing and-as Raekal and hundreds of others believed, dead-the world was just in that much more chaos. And Tarwin's Gap . . . yes, that would need held.
"You know we cannot cut our ties with the Band either," Raekal said before Aran could reply. They fell into step together, walking back the way Raekal had come from, towards the gates. "Our alliance with them is iron-clad, and Mandell would never dream of betraying us. It's not in his blood. I think he is one of the few unaffected by this 'Great Game' left in the world. Andor has went astray . . . their queen was under the effects of that Raphael for far too long, and they totally ignored the conflicts in Tear and beyond.
"It makes me wonder what they could possibly be thinking," Raekal paused for a moment, and they walked in silence for a few moments. "Difficult decisions to make indeed . . . do you know anything about what's happening in Yasha's absence? She has family to tend the throne for her in Saldaea . . . and who, so far, have put in claims for the Sun Throne?"
(Raekal Dunshain) -- First Stormleader Asha'man Bonded to Brenna Selanos (Saker Mandell) -- King of Manetheren (Rahien Shan) -- King of Arafel (Kylan Du'Val) -- Dreadlord of Mesaana
Re: blood and ashes ( RAEKAL!!!!)
Aran shook his head and put his hands behind his back.
" We will not break our alliance with the Band, have nmo fear of that, no matter howmuch it may cost in the end."
He fell silent a moment before going on.
" As far as Cairhein goes, I am afraid there are too many to count it would seem. When last I heard every major house there has put in a claim which is no surprise. Saldea will be fine in Yasha's abscence as well. If she is dead we borderlanders are usually smart enough to not start a war over such foolishness, not with the blight to worry about. We will send men to Tarwin's Gap and we will wait for news from the band. Then we will send as many as need be to him."
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